Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2015) Review

Table of Contents

Introduction & Design

If you thought the e-reader as a concept was past its prime, think again. Given the popularity over the last few years of tablets, notably Apple’s iPads, those shiny, stylish competitors still can't replicate the singular experience of an electronic-paper-based e-reader.

With one of these devices, reading in bright sunlight is actually feasible—unlike on a glare-prone color tablet. And the 2015 version of the Kindle Paperwhite, from e-reader market leader Amazon, makes doing so a pleasure, thanks to some improved hardware.

Compared with earlier iterations of the Kindle, this third-generation Paperwhite lacks any of the dramatic, transformative upgrades that those models brought. It's evolutionary: The new Paperwhite is the same size as before, but it gains the same high-resolution display as the Amazon Kindle Voyage, which remains in its perch as Amazon's top-shelf offering among e-readers.

The $199 Kindle Voyage is just shy of an ounce lighter than this new Kindle Paperwhite, and it has an ever-so-slightly trimmer footprint and thickness. The Kindle Voyage has the same display as the new Paperwhite, but it retains several features the Paperwhite doesn't get in its 2015 refresh. For one, the Kindle Voyage has what Amazon calls “PagePress” sensors, which are haptic-response sensors embedded along the vertical edges to provide a subtle bit of touch feedback on a page turn. For another: The Voyage has an adaptive light sensor that detects the ambient lighting where you’re using the device, and automatically adjusts the brightness of the screen lighting that subtly illuminates the display. It makes the experience of reading in any lighting (or oft-changing lighting) seamless.

Those features may be missing from the 2015 Kindle Paperwhite, but even without them, the Paperwhite is best-in-class. It's now on par with the Kobo Glo HD (we have a review of that new-for-2015 e-reader in the works), which has the same kind of screen: a 6-inch “HD” Carta E Ink touch screen. "HD" means something more modest to e-reader makers than say, tablet or laptop ones: here, that’s a 1,448x1,072 resolution, at 300 pixels per inch. One place where the Kobo Glo HD has a slight hard advantage, though, is price: At this writing in mid-July 2015, it cost $120, with no extra costs for removing advertisements from the reading experience. By comparison, the 2015 Kindle Paperwhite costs $119 with Amazon's “Special Offers” lock-screen advertisements in place, and $139 with them suppressed.

The competitive landscape for e-readers is far smaller than it was in its pre-tablet heyday, a time when Sony and several other makers were still in the game. Even Barnes & Noble, which had the then-competitive (and still good, but lower-resolution) $99 Nook Glowlight, hasn't had an update for two years, apart from its lackluster collaborations with Samsung on color tablets, such as the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook.

Now, in essence, in the 2015 Kindle Paperwhite Amazon is competing with itself, and to a lesser extent with Kobo and B&N. Beyond the high-end Kindle Voyage, Amazon offers one other budget model, a $79 basic model simply called Kindle; this 2014 model has a touch screen, but it lacks the resolution and display illumination of the 2015 Kindle Paperwhite. Kobo, meanwhile, has by far the widest competing line; it offers the $99 Kobo Aura (with the same “E Ink Pearl” 1,014x758-pixel display as the Kindle), and the $179 Kobo Aura H20, a dust-proof and waterproof model with a large 6.8-inch HD Carta E Ink display (albeit with a lower pixel-per-inch rating than the 6-incher mentioned above). They’re quite nice as e-readers, as well, and while we give the Amazon hardware in the 2015 Paperwhite the edge, we recognize that your decision will also come down to which e-reader ecosystem you’re more sold on, or already own an extensive library in.

With the 2015 Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, Amazon packs in newer, better technology, and it does so at the same price as the previous Paperwhite model. That’s a hard combination to beat. In addition, Amazon continues to offer the option (albeit much pricier) of outfitting your Kindle Paperwhite with unlimited 3G wireless connectivity for a fixed price, making anywhere book downloads easy. That's another unique advantage that Amazon brings.

Design

Better e-reader, same price as before? One way Amazon achieves this in the 2015 Paperwhite model is by using the same fundamental design as each of the previous Paperwhites, in dimensions and weight. The design is so close that this new Paperwhite can use the same protective cases as the previous generation (and the original Paperwhite fits, too). This is a boon to anyone who has an earlier model: You won't necessarily need to invest in a new outer case. You can find aftermarket ones, to be sure; Amazon sent us one for testing, an Amazon-branded premium leather cover that we received with the 2015 Kindle Paperwhite. It sells for $69.99, a significant cost unto itself.

The 2015 Paperwhite measures 6.7x4.6 inches and 0.36 inches thick, and it weighs just under half a pound (7.2 ounces). Add four-tenths of an ounce for the Wi-Fi +3G version, which costs $189 to the Wi-Fi-only version's $119. By comparison, the $79 Kindle measures incrementally more (6.7x4.7x0.40 inches) and weighs 6.7 ounces. The $199 Kindle Voyage measures 6.4x4.5 inches, is 0.3 inch thick, and weighs 6.2 ounces. The Kobo Glo HD—the most direct non-Amazon competition to the Paperwhite—measures 6.2x4.5x0.36 inches and weighs 6.4 ounces.

Physically, the Paperwhite remains pleasant to hold and curl up with, although we wish the case didn't add quite so much bulk and weight to the body. We preferred holding the Paperwhite without a case, and that was easy to do given the comfy, grippable back and curved edges...

We liked the matte-black bezel around the display, and much preferred that to the glossier bezel paint of the original Paperwhite. The matte bezel is still prone to fingerprints, but they are not quite as visible as on that earlier Paperwhite model.

The most tangible update to the Paperwhite lies in its display. The 2015 Paperwhite’s HD Carta E Ink display, as we mentioned earlier, comes in at 300 pixels per inch (ppi). This translates to noticeably sharper text, with no visible dots and smoother edges. The contrast was superior, as well, receiving a very clear boost when compared with the 2012 first-generation Paperwhite. Together with the highly responsive touch screen and improved interface, the new Paperwhite reflects the kinds of evolutionary updates that make it worth upgrading from that first-generation model. You'll certainly see the improvements over last year's Paperwhite, too. But the differences over the first-gen model are even more pronounced, as you might expect.

That display technology is the same as you will find on the more expensive Kindle Voyage, but the Kindle Voyage has a lower pixel density (267ppi) since its display is 0.8 inch larger. The Paperwhite's display technology is also the same as found on the Kobo Glo HD. The entry-level Kindle uses the older E Ink Pearl display, at 1,024x758 resolution and only 167ppi.

The definitive feature of the Paperwhite has always been its edge-mounted lighting, which provides adjustable illumination of the E Ink display. This Paperwhite is no exception, with a pleasing, bright background that's noticeably whiter and better than on the first-generation Paperwhite. The brightness control is part of the touch menu, and it has multiple steps; however, it doesn't adjust automatically, as on the pricier Kindle Voyage. The illumination is perfect for use in a darkened bedroom or aboard an airplane, for example. But if you prefer the standard, non-illuminated newspaper-gray background, no problem. You can just dial the brightness all the way down.

The rest of the hardware for the Kindle Paperwhite remains spartan, much as with other Amazon Kindle (and Fire tablet) models. For ports, the Paperwhite has just a micro-USB connector at the bottom, for data transfers and charging, down by the power button (for turning off the device or waking it from sleep)...